Mother of Brooklyn stabbing suspect says son is in deep pain
Fatma Mohassib describes her son as a good person while facing murder charges for the Oct. 30 death of jogger Katie Suarez.
By Yuki Melnyk ·
The mother of the man charged with killing Brooklyn jogger Katie Suarez spoke publicly for the first time on Saturday morning. Fatma Mohassib stood outside the Bensonhurst apartment where police arrested her son, Sayed Mohassib. She expressed grief for the victim's family and defended her son's character.
"I'm in deep pain, I'm in deep trouble I hope everything will go ok," Mohassib said. She listed his achievements to counter the image of a violent suspect. "He's a black belt, he goes to Boy Scouts all his life, goes to the mosque all his life, he goes to Brooklyn College, the team basketball, excellent boy," she said.
Authorities allege security footage placed Mohassib near Shore Parkway and Bay 17th Street before and after the Oct. 30 attack. Court documents detail his account to detectives. He said he carried a knife to the bike path because he feared people would come to kill his family. Near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, he told investigators he sat on a bench and became covered in blood.
Mohassib claimed he discarded bloody clothing and the knife after returning home. He stated he attempted to clean blood from his apartment. Court records indicate he threw items through a garbage chute while wearing only underwear. That chute is across from the family unit, where his mother and sister called 911 in 2024 after he allegedly threatened to chop them up.
Mohassib denied those prior allegations. "He never attacked me, never attacked his sister, never attacked anyone in the neighborhood," she said. She acknowledged her son has had mental health issues. He has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals, with his longest stay lasting two months. He served in the Marines after leaving the NYPD for a few weeks. He was later denied reentry into the police department and taken to Bellevue Hospital.
Suarez called her father to say she was heading home on Oct. 30. When she did not arrive, he found her critically injured. Mohassib said she shares the family's loss. "My heart goes deep to the mother and the father. Just, we both lost, you lost your daughter, I lost my son," she said. Prosecutors continue to pursue murder charges against Mohassib.
The case remains pending as the legal process moves forward. The mother stood near the entryway of the building where the arrest took place. She did not enter the apartment during her brief statement to reporters.
